When the Tigers played their first game on Tuesday, Houston Christian scored 27 points in the first half to LSU’s 53.
On Thursday, when Southeastern Louisiana came to town, the Lions were held to just six points at the break while LSU had 61.
LSU women’s basketball made history during its second game of the season, allowing the fewest points in any half all-time, holding the Lions to only six points.
The swarming Tigers’ defense continued their dominance in the second half, limiting the Lions to 10-for-52 (19.2%) shooting from the field and propelled themselves to victory, defeating Southeastern Louisiana 115-26.
Head coach Kim Mulkey has always built her teams through tenacity, grit and defense, and it was on full display Thursday night. The Tigers recorded 19 steals and three blocks, shutting down any offensive rhythm the Lions hoped to gain.
LSU turned those hustle plays into points, scoring 42 points off turnovers
It wasn’t just the defense that was clicking on all cylinders; the offense had no trouble finding its footing with almost every single Tiger contributing to the score.
Depth has been one of the selling points of this year’s team, and with five players scoring more than double-digit points and totaling 25 assists as a team, the Tigers have shown they have multiple options.
“Just share the ball,” Mulkey said. “Good things are going to happen and certainly we’ve got players that can go 1-on-1, and can entertain you, but at the end of the day, when you get to SEC play and good games, you’re going to have to reverse the ball, you’re gonna have to share the ball and let everybody, as they like to say, eat.”
It was an extremely efficient night for LSU as it finished the game shooting 50-for-74 (67.6%) from the field and 8-for-18 (44.4%) from three.
Senior Flau’Jae Johnson led by example, finishing with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists.
However, the freshman ZaKiyah Johnson also showed why she’s one of the best freshmen in the country, scoring the second-most points for the Tigers. She has drawn comparisons to other LSU greats, such as Aneesah Morrow, for her relentless effort on the boards.
After recording a double-double in her first game, Johnson once again put up another solid performance, finishing with 16 points, five rebounds and four steals on 8-for-11 (72.7%) from the field.
The Johnson and Johnson duo has begun to take shape as the season begins, and with solid post moves from ZaKiyah and Flau’Jae, being able to score and make plays, the two complement each other very well.
The Tigers had the size advantage against the Lions and attacked the inside all night long. The Tigers scored 74 points in the paint and shot 29-for-40 (72.5%) on layups.
Not only were they able to feed the ball to their bigs such as Kate Koval, Grace Knox and Amiya Joyner, but they were also able to attack downhill and get to the basket.
The fast and twitchy guards of MiLaysia Fulwiley and Kailyn Gilbert showed that they could score inside without dumping it off to their bigs down low.
Even on the rare occasion when LSU missed near the basket, Koval cleaned the boards on the offensive end, hauling in four offensive rebounds.
After a quiet debut with the Bayou Bengals, scoring only seven points, Koval got going early, scoring points in the first half and finishing with 17 while also adding nine rebounds to the stat sheet.
Outside shooting has always been a rollercoaster for Mulkey’s teams, but freshman guard Bella Hines may have found a way to help out.
Hines finished the game with 14 points, three rebounds and two steals, but shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Not only did she attempt the most threes on the team in this game, but she also made the most.
She didn’t shoot the ball a lot on Tuesday during the victory against the Huskies, only attempting and making one, but it’s clear that once she gets going, she can shoot the ball from deep.
Hines and her other talented freshman teammates have proven early that they belong at this stage.
“They’re confident,” Mulkey said. “They will guard anybody on the floor. They might get abused, but they’re still gonna come back, and they’re gonna try and do their best.”
